(CNSNews.com) – During a July event at the U.S. Department of Education, children from D.C. schools and day care centers were treated to free books, including two featuring Nickelodeon characters as part of the media organization’s “The Big Green Help” Series. One of the books promotes the idea that global warming is man made and the second book talks about what kids can do to save the Earth.
SpongeBob Goes Green! An Earth-Friendly Adventure! tells the story of SpongeBob’s friend, Krusty Krab, who builds a swimming pool. Mr. Krab is frustrated that it is not hot enough to attract paying customers to his new swimming pool and decides that the exhaust from boats and cars could solve his dilemma.
Mr. Krab says: “I’m just pumpin’ a wee bit of carbon dioxide into the air. It’ll warm up the temperature and bring on an endless summer! People will want to use my new pool all year long.”
To help with his cause, SpongeBob and his friend Patrick set stacks of tires on fire.
“More smoke floated up into the sky,” the book states.
The author does not explain how a pool is built underwater, how vehicles submerged in the ocean can produce exhaust, or how tires burn and send smoke into the air from the bottom of the sea.
But the book does explain the dangers of global warming.
Sandy the squirrel, who wears an underwater suit, comes to the rescue.
“What are you doing messin’ with Mother Nature?” Sandy says. “You’re polluting Bikini Bottom with all this carbon dioxide and bringin’ on global warming.”
“What’s global warming?” SpongeBob asks.
“Ya see, Earth has these gases called greenhouse gases,” says Sandy. “They’re in the atmosphere to keep the temperature of the planet just right. Carbon Dioxide is one of those gases. But when we make more greenhouse gases than the planet needs naturally, like you’ve been burnin’ tires and fuel, it locks the heat in the atmosphere. That makes the planet hotter than it should be. That’s global warming. And that’s not good.”
Global warming causes the water in Mr. Krab’s pool to boil away, but once everyone plants trees, starts riding bikes and unplugs appliances, Bikini Bottom is restored and Mr. Krab gives people a discounted entry into the pool if they ride their bike or walk.
Dora Celebrates Earth Day! was also offered to the children by the Department of Education at the July 20 event, with character Dora the Explorer telling her friends and family “what they can do to save the Earth.”
The tips include:
* “If you have water left in your drinking glass, you can use it to water your house plants.”
* “We can also turn off lights during the day.”
* “My abuela (grandmother) is careful about saving energy too. When’s she’s cooking or preparing food she always decides what she wants to get before opening the refrigerator door.”
On the back of both books the following is printed: “Now kids can get excited about going green with their favorite Nickelodeon characters! The Big Green Help, Nickelodeon’s environmental initiative, and Little Green Books, Simon & Schuster’s eco-friendly line, have joined together to create this new set of books. Each book, printed on recycled paper, encourages kids to take the lead in making the world a greener place.”
The other books in the series are Blue’s Clues “Watch Me Grow! Blue Plants a Seed,” and Wonder Pets!’ “Save the Tree.”
The DOE event also featured department officials, celebrity chef Spike Mendelsohn, and President Barack Obama’s half-sister Maya Soetoro-Ng reading Todd Parr’s “The Peace Book.”
The book features platitudes about peace, including, “Peace is keeping the water blue for all the fish,” “Peace is giving shoes to someone who needs them,” “Peace is wearing different clothes,” “Peace is keeping the streets clean,” and “Peace is everyone having a home.”
“As part of the “Let’s Read! Let’s Move!” series, the department has invited Cabinet members, administration officials, and other public figures to join in reading children’s books, promoting healthy lifestyles and participating in games and fitness activities with children in pre-kindergarten through third grade,” according to a DOE press release.
This was the third event this summer.
“Let’s Move!” is First Lady Michelle Obama’s campaign to fight childhood obesity.